Experiment 14
by Dylexa the Fangirl
Summary: Experiment # 14. The girl who could burn. The girl who burned herself alive. This is what they called her. The Saturdays take in a young girl with the ability to burn with her head. When the man who did this to her finds her, trouble stirs for the family. I'm rewriting this story and moving this from my original account to this account, so I won't be writing for this.
1. Prologue

**(To those of you who are about to read this, feel free to do so, but this is an old story of mine. I am moving it from my original account to this new account, which is mainly for old stories that I do not wish to keep on my main account, which is named _Dylexa_. I won't have anything good up there for a while, sadly. I am working on it though!)**

**Prologue **

**(Dylexa: _Well, I think I've found a solution that will hopefully make everyone happy. Hopefully. Well, as you guys know, I had no idea what to do with my original plan, so I have decided to re-write the beginning, do some flashbacks of the TSS eps in some chapters, and write out my other ideas. Like it? If you don't, too bad. (Sorry) I think you guys will be satisfied with this version of my story. I will put a lot of the chapters in the deleted scenes story, so I will NOT delete them. I hope you guys like my plan, and if not, that's not going to do anything but make me feel guilty. So, anyway, hope ya guys like this New version...and let's hope I like it too so I don't have to change it around again. Oh yes, and for this first chapter, since all the character's names will not exactly be known until about the end of the first or maybe even second chapter, I will not name the POVs when there are any...but...actually, the characters from TSS wont be in this first chapter. But I will be sure you guys know which one's which in the POVs, and I will make sure that the TSS characters show up in the second chapter. Trust me. ;) Oh yes, and also, I will be changing Damon's name, and Verde's name. I just think a nice name change will do good. ;D_**

_**Oh yeah, I just edited this chap. Just for fun. Nothing got changed too much, but Dr. Alanes never murdered Marissa's parents, and she is NOT the first experiment.)**_

**...**

My older brother Gratis Sunshine and I ran as fast as we could from the men chasing us.

The men chasing us pulled out their guns, and started shooting.

"Run faster!" Gratis calls out.

"I'm trying!"

I hear Gratis shriek. I stop running and turn to see that Gratis has collapsed for some reason. When I look closer I realize that blood is spilling out his leg the same way water in a cup does after a toddler knocks it over.

Gratis looks up at me in fear. "Marissa, you need to go without me!"

"But...w-what about you?" I stammered.

"I'll be okay!"

"There they are!" One of the men shouts.

"Please go." Tears streak down his cheeks. "Sissy…remember, I'll always love you…now go!"

I don't move.

"GO!"

I hesitated before running away from the last person that was part of my family.

"Whoa!"

I tripped, got up quickly, and looked back; the men were now upon Gratis, and I saw that his hands had been handcuffed behind him.

"RUN!" He shouts again before one of the men leaves with him. The other man just stares at me in horror. He knew what I could do...he knew that if I wanted, I could burn him.

But I _didn't_ want to burn him. I didn't want to do anything but get my brother back.

But that wasn't possible.

With tears streaming down my face, I turn my back to the man, and my last opportunity to rescue Gratis and ran, never looking back again.

**...**

_What do I do now god? _

I sighed solemnly. I was lonely already.

_If only Gratis was here._

Brushing my tears away, I keep going off to wherever fate will place me.

_My name is Marissa Sunshine. I am only eight years old. I am homeless. I have no parents. I don't know what happened to my brother, but he's as good as dead as far as I know. I am a freak, and I'm alone._

Alone.

I have nobody left to love. Mom and Dad...gone. My grandparents died long before I was born. I don't know what happened to my cousin, aunt and uncle. The last time I saw them was when I was six...and now...now my brother was gone...

"WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?**!**?" I shouted angrily to the heavens_..._to my parents. "WHY DID YOU LEAVE US WHEN WE NEEDED YOU?**!**?"

_Boom!_

I winced as the small, cold, unforgiving tears of the earth poured down on me.

The worst part was, when _I_ started crying, nobody on earth could care. God was the only one, and even then it seemed like he didn't care.

_Is this a punishment for leaving Gratis behind? _

I didn't know. All I knew was that at the moment, I was starting to prefer letting scientists like the two men who took Gratis away cut me open, or being stuck in the same cage as some crazy cannibal in a strait-jacket that kept biting deep gashes into my arm.

At least Gratis would be only a few cages away from us, threatening the cannibal that if he didn't stop gnawing on my arm, he would end up with a knife in his back the next time Gratis was let out.

Now _Gratis_ was probably the one stuck in the cage with the cannibal.

"Why did you leave us?" I repeated, softer this time. "We need you guys."

I knew it wasn't their fault though.

They died in a car crash.

And since there was nobody else left to protect us…Dr. Alanes took Gratis and I about a year ago.

Dr. Alanes. He's the one that kidnapped Gratis and I. He's the one that locked me in a cage with the cannibal. He's the one that figured out how to implant the ability to make fire into me...the reason why I can burn...

Ever since he's been kicked out of some scientist club...I don't know, maybe a group? Anyway, ever since he's been kicked out of wherever that is, he's been doing crazy experiments on people...

"I think I heard her over here!"

I gasped.

More scientists.

The men must have brought back up.

I quickly climbed up a tree, ignoring the fresh cuts I got from the bark on my hands.

_Me and my big fat mouth. I _had_ to ruin my cover. Just great. Yeah, nice Marissa. Screaming._

Grasping tightly to a slippery branch, I watched below as they came. About twenty men came.

All of them in fire proof suites.

"Where could she be?" One of them asked.

"How am I supposed to know?**!**?" The leader snapped. "It's so small that it can hide just about _anywhere_!"

I winced. _It_. That's how cruel these people are. Calling me an "it", as if I were just some lab rat...I probably _was_ justa lab rat to them.

I thought about climbing higher, but it was too wet and slippery to climb without either falling, or making a noise.

_Please God, don't let _them_ find me._

I hoped I wasn't asking for too much, especially after doubting God just a few minutes before...

I flinched as I felt the branch underneath me start to break.

_No...please...don't break...please!_

But it was too late anyway. They had heard the branch break, and now they knew where I was.

"It's up there!"

I shrieked as I fell out of the tree, and landed on the ground head first.

"Leave...m-me al-lone..."

The last thing I saw before I went out was a pair of hands scoops me up. The hands felt cold and unforgiving...

**(Well, that's the new and improved chapter one. Hope you guys like!)**


	2. Chapter 1

**(To those of you who are about to read this, feel free to do so, but this is an old story of mine. I am moving it from my original account to this new account, which is mainly for old stories that I do not wish to keep on my main account, which is named _Dylexa_. I won't have anything good up there for a while, sadly. I am working on it though!)**

**Chapter one:**

**Thank you**

**(Dylexa: Hi peoples! How are ya? lol! **

**I'm kinda gonna skip this part because for now this is Marissa's POV, and she was basically unconscious until this part, and I want the story to...well, ya know! Kinda feel realistic [I don't think it will be though, 'cause I'm just a kid, and my writing isn't as good as an adult's writing.] Trust me! As I write, the story will explain itself! But I will say that Marissa was rescued! Okay, that's all! Hope y'all like! Oh yes, to answer Mailynn's question, I still really can't add the eps, but I was thinking that maybe i can just make the characters mention important facts from the eps. )**

**(Marissa's POV)**

"Do you think she'll be okay?" A woman asked.

"I'm not sure..." A man replied

As the minutes passed by, I grew more and more awake and aware that I was somewhere...probably the laboratory...

But I couldn't exactly tell, because the air around me was a lot warmer than the laboratory...more welcoming...I didn't know what exactly I was lying in, but it felt like a bed.

It couldn't be though...Dr. Alanes wouldn't let me sleep in a bed...he'd think I'd light it on fire in my sleep...

"I wonder what Dr. Alanes wanted with her...she's so young." another man commented.

I didn't open my eyes, but I listened. The voices actually sounded a lot more friendly then most of Mr. Alanes cronies.

_Maybe their new._

It was hard to tell though. I remembered what Gratis had said about not trusting anyone you didn't know, no matter how kind they seemed. My heart suddenly ached at the thought of him...

_Oh Gratis...where are you?_

I thought about opening my eyes, but my eye lids felt like they were one hundred pounds each. My head and body ached as well.

I heard about six people speak, but I didn't listen. I was too drowsy...

"We should wait a little more," The first man said. "Let her rest...she still looks tired."

They all agreed, their footsteps trailing out of the room. When I was sure they were gone, I opened my eyes;

The room I was in looked nothing like any place in Dr. Alanes's laboratory. It looked a lot more...well, _cheerful._ The walls were a bright orange, there were two big windows, another bed besides the one I was in, and there were no deadly looking surgery like tools like the ones I usually see in the 'experiment room' as my brother and I call it.

My heart sank.

Gratis.

_I miss you Gratis..._

I squeezed my hand, and almost immediately felt a squeeze back.

We always squeezed our hands when we were separated back in the lab...at least when we weren't unconscious from being beaten or being experimented on. We didn't really know if we could actually feel each other's squeeze, but it was at the least a comforting thought to think so. It was all we had anyway…

I sat up in the bed. Almost immediately, I saw that my arm and hands were bandaged in those cloth types of bandages you could wrap around something. I inspected my body to find a few more places bandaged, but I wasn't too seriously injured.

Suddenly, drowsiness started pulling me down. I decided not to fight it, but instead just to sleep. I haven't really had a good night's rest in a long time anyway...

**...**

"Komodo get off her!" I heard a woman scold. I recognized this voice as one of the woman who had come in here earlier.

I felt something heavy lying on my stomach. I opened my eyes to see a giant lizard lying comfortably on my stomach.

"Hey Mom! She's awake!" A little boy said excitedly.

I recognized the lizard. It was a Komodo dragon...but not just any Komodo dragon.

This was one of Dr. Alanes's experiments. He had injected chameleon DNA into the poor thing a long time ago, long before Dr. Alanes experimented on Gratis and I. I knew him very well because we used to live in the same cage together.

I smiled sadly and patted his head gently. I looked around to see a woman with short snow white blonde hair and she was wearing an orange jumpsuit with black gloves and boots. She was glancing down at me worriedly.

I couldn't recognize her at all.

"Hi," I said weakly, tensing up from my choice of words.

Hi? _Really Marissa? That's the best you got? _Hi?_ You're saying _hi _to the enemy?_

"Hi," she replied. "Sorry about the lizard..." she pulled the Komodo dragon off me.

I sat up, but didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.

"Hi!" The little boy piped up excitedly. I looked in the direction of his voice. The source of the voice was a little boy with jet black hair, with a shock of white in the center, almost covering big brown eyes similar to my own. I saw that he was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a dinosaur, along with orange pants, the color similar to the one the woman wore, and he had little black shoes. He looked no older than six or seven.

What made me really confused was that he looked completely healthy. No injuries, no freaky thing wrong with him...he was just a normal little boy.

_Okay...maybe I'm not surrounded by bad people._

I relaxed a little.

"My name is Zak Saturday, and this is my mom, Drew Saturday, and we call the lizard Komodo, because he's actually a komodo dragon," the little boy named Zak introduced. "What's your name?"

"Um..." I thought about using a fake name, but these people seemed harmless. "Marissa Sunshine."

Just then, Komodo wiggled out of Drew's arms and hopped back on the bed with me. I patted his warm head again the same way I would pet a dog.

"Where am I?" I asked suddenly, almost regretting it. If I truly _was_ back at the lab, and this was just a cruel trick, I didn't want to know yet. Not for a while.

But it was too late. I had already asked the question.

"Your back at our home," Drew answered. "We rescued you from Dr. Alanes about a month ago...you've been out cold that whole time until now."

Surprisingly, this wasn't too shocking. About a few times, back at the lab, after Dr. Alanes did experiments on me or Gratis, we would have been out for about that same time, if not two months. The drugs he usually put us on were sometimes too strong.

But what was kind of shocking was that Drew knew who Dr. Alanes was.

This made me suspicious.

"How do you know him?" I didn't mean to sound so gentle...so weak. I was very frightened from all the possibilities of being experimented on once again...of being put in a cage with a cannibal...and this time I had no Gratis to threaten the cannibal.

"He used to be a secret scientist," I was almost shocked to hear the little boy say so clearly. "Both Mom and Dad are secret scientists, so that's how they know him...isn't that right Mom?"

Drew nodded. "Yes...you see, one of the other secret scientists witnessed Dr. Alanes and his employees chase you…many of the secret scientists volunteered to rescue you...we found Komodo as well..."

My heart suddenly rose a few feet. "D-did you find anyone else? Like a boy a few years older than me? He looks similar to me."

Drew frowned. "No, we didn't...we only found you and Komodo...I'm sorry...was he someone close?"

Tears threatened to trickle down my face, but I held them back. "Yeah...he was my...brother." It was very difficult to speak while trying not to cry at the same time. It just made the already big lump in my throat bigger.

Drew looked heart broken. She was about to say something, but I beat her to that-

"What happened to Dr. Alanes?" I asked quickly. The thought of him in a nut house made the lump smaller by a few inches.

"We're not sure...all we know is that he won't be bothering anyone for a while."

So that meant that he was gonna try to catch me again sometime soon. Drew might not have known it, but Dr. Alanes never lets his experiments go so easily.

But instead of being horrified that Dr. Alanes was still out there, lurking around somewhere I couldn't see him, I looked on the brighter side of this;

I had finally found some help...finally, someone else besides the victims or Dr. Alanes or his employees know about his sick ways...maybe, if I'm lucky, I can find a permanent solution to this.

To my surprise, I smiled...it was still a grimace, but it was better than no smile at all. "Thank you...I...I really appreciate that you rescued me...I...I don't think I would have been able to last another night in there..."

Drew smiled back. "No problem...and, you can stay as long as you want."

"Yeah!" Zak said excitedly.

I was touched. Truly touched that someone I barely knew was welcoming me into their home.

"Thank you."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter two:**

**Welcome to the family!**

**(Dylexa: Hope you guys enjoy...)**

**(Marissa's POV)**

My days here with the Saturdays were very nice...but it was a little weird being here as well.

Instead of only eating once a week, like I used to at the lab, I was fed everyday. It was very difficult to eat more than fourteen bites without feeling sick to my stomach, but eventually I started eating a little more.

Cleaning myself was a little easier...although, unfortunately, my time in the lab has effected my body;

While normal eight-year-olds only had to bathe around once to twice a week, I had to bathe every other day, due to that one experiment Dr. Alanes had done on me about half a year ago where he had fast-forwarded my emotions to make me act older, and to make my body think it was older, meaning that if I didn't wash after three days, I'd probably start to smell pretty bad. (Although I probably wouldn't mind that if it weren't for the fact that I was actually living with people who _didn't_ stick needles in me daily).

Solomon Saturday, or as we liked to call him, "Doc" (Who was Zak's father and Drew's husband), a tall muscular man who looked similar to Zak, except with darker skin and a scarred eye, had mentioned that if it weren't for my appearance (Including my height) and my voice, that he could pass me at least as age sixteen. In a way, I thought that was kind of funny and partly ironic; before Dr. Alanes had found Gratis and I, my old family had mentioned at least once a _day_ that I was very childish.

But anyway, as I said before, some things around here are easy to adjust to. Others...well, not really.

Doc and Drew both agreed that I needed to gain some weight and some muscle, so not only was I being fed more than I was used to, but I had to do some very hard exercises too.

Okay, obviously they didn't go too hard on me since I was _still_ just a kid, _and_ I was kept in a cage for about a year of my life, meaning I couldn't move much, so it was very difficult to do simple exercises, such as running, sit ups, push ups, ect...

Zak however was very athletic for a boy his age. He was ten times faster than me, and he was able to lift more stuff than me.

I guess it was because of all the missions the Saturdays always had, and even though Zak had just started less than three months ago, he was already very athletic. He was very energetic as well...very strong, both physically, and emotionally. In a way, he kind of reminded me of...Gratis when we were kids.

Oh Gratis.

The other secret scientists had looked all over for him in the abandoned lab...but he wasn't there.

It was an unspoken message...it meant that I had to move on, no matter how much it hurt.

The whole family, including Komodo worried about me, but I told them I was fine.

Okay, maybe that was a lie, but what should I do? My time in the lab has made me tough. It was alright to keep my feelings inside me where they belonged.

Right?

"Hey Maris!"

I jumped at the sudden out burst from Zak. I hadn't even realized he had walked up to me.

Something hit my stomach from the inside when I had realized that Zak had shortened my name out to Maris.

Gratis used to call me that.

But instead of breaking out in tears like my body wanted, I forced a smile, ruffling his spiky hair. "What's up kiddo?"

Zak looked confused. "Well, the sky is up...and, the roof is up...OH! And the sun!" I giggled at how serious he sounded.

"I don't mean _literally_!"

Zak, embarrassed that he had thought that I had actually asked him what was up, said, "Well...I was just wondering..." his eyes suddenly widened in horror. "Your hair is smoking!"

Just as he had said that, the smoke alarm went off.

"Oh man..." To Zak's surprise, I was completely calm. I looked around for some water, and to my relief, I found a bottle of water; I opened it and poured it on my head, ignoring the icy cold fingers of the water crawling down my back.

"FIRE!" Doc came rushing in with a fire extinguisher. When he saw that there wasn't a fire, he awkwardly put the fire extinguisher down. "Um...what just happened?"

"What happened? ! ?" Drew rushed into the room beside Doc. Seeing that there was nothing out of the ordinary, she relaxed a little, but looked confused at the same time.

"Yeah, what hap-"

"Nothing! I have no idea! My hair just...sparked?"

Zak wasn't buying it, and neither was Doc and Drew, who were slowly catching on to what happened. Komodo glared at me, as if saying _"Wait, you mean you didn't tell them yet? ! ?"_

The truth was that I never told them. I was afraid...no, not afraid of Doc and Drew. No, I trusted them.

But I _was_ afraid of the other secret scientists finding out. Unlike Doc and Drew, they didn't have kids. They didn't understand that kids needed to have as much as a normal life as possible.

No, I was pretty sure that if they found out...they'd be sticking needles in me and doing tests on me right away.

Then again, I was _still_ a kid. Maybe I was just exaggerating...their not like Dr. Alanes.

I sighed sadly, wishing that my big brother was here to tell me what to do. He would know exactly what to do.

But I had to face reality, and in reality, I had no big brother to help me.

I was on my own.

"Maris?" I looked into Zak's innocent brown eyes...was I ready to scare a little kid to death? Was it even _right_?

I decided to use my words very carefully in front of Zak, while still being clear with Doc and Drew.

"Well...while I was in the lab...Dr. Alanes decided to...well...he thought it would be interesting if I was able to make fire...so...he..._gave_ me this..._ability_..." I frowned at how childish my words sounded, but at least they were Zak-safe.

But Doc and Drew seemed to understand completely. They looked _mortified._

"He did this with Komodo too," I added. "He can blend in like a chameleon now..."

Komodo growled at me, scowling in anger at me for telling them.

"They were gonna figure that out eventually!" I snapped at him. He started to crawl away, but I grabbed him. "Oh no you don't!" I lowered my voice in a whisper. "Please, I don't wanna do this alone boy..." I hugged him a little tighter, his warm body against mine half way comforting me, and half reminding me of the true horror I had felt in the time I was in that horrible laboratory...every day, I was in fear of loosing a limb, or getting an extra limb, or getting beaten...the sounds of that horrible whip haunted me, and I felt the sting of it on my back, feeling so much like the Devil's whip.

I payed my attention back to Doc and Drew. They were silent in shock. This silence went on for several minutes. I assumed that nobody was going to say anything, and I was about to leave when Doc finally said;

"This stays a family secret...nobody, and I mean _nobody_ out side of the family can know...does every one understand this?" Everyone, including me nodded. His voice was ice cold, filled with hatred that scared me half to death. I wasn't sure if it was aimed at me, but something told me it wasn't. I felt that it was aimed at Dr. Alanes. "Drew...can I talk to you for a minute?"

Drew nodded, silent. They both walked into the kitchen.

**...**

_**Later that night...**_

The sky was cloudless and full of stars. Just the way I liked it. I hugged my knees tightly as I watched the sparkly sky filled with history of the planet that only God himself can read...that's what Gratis and I used to think at least.

Tears filled in my eyes at the thought of him...I missed him so much it ached.

"Where is he?" I asked. The star filled sky winked at me in reply. "Is he still alive?" The stars didn't reply this time. "Is he?"

I knew that the sky didn't hold the answer...and even if it did, it couldn't tell me. The twinkling stars Gratis and I used to look at together taunted me.

"Couldn't sleep?"

I looked behind me to see that Zak and Komodo were there. "I was just about to go back to bed," I lied.

The truth was that I didn't want Zak to get in trouble for being up past his bedtime...besides, he was young, he needed the sleep.

Apparently Zak was very good at reading the tone of someone's voice when they lied. "You didn't really look like you were."

I shrugged. Zak and Komodo sat down next to me on both sides, making us a human/cryptid sandwich. I felt my claustrophobia rise slightly, but the level was still bearable.

We were quiet for a while, just looking at the sky in wonder and amazement.

_I hope your okay Gratis...I really hope you are._

I glanced at Zak in wonder; he really _did_ remind me of Gratis, except younger. He even looked like him, minus the shock of white in his hair.

"Can I ask you something?" asked Zak.

"Sure."

He paused for a second, as if wondering if he really should be asking this, but then said; "I don't get it...you made it seem really scary having such a cool power...why?"

I frowned. That was a very tricky subject to explain, especially to someone so young. "It's...difficult."

"Why?"

I shuddered. "You don't want to hear...it'll give you nightmares."

"Then don't go into full detail...just tell me what's so difficult about it."

Komodo suddenly walked away, obviously not wanting to hear this. I was on my own.

I sighed. "Fine...well...okay, let me put it this way...um...okay, you watch super hero shows, right?"

Zak nodded.

"Okay, so obviously you know that a super hero sometimes wants a _normal_ life, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's kinda like that...except...well, this is kind of like a mix of that and...well...sort of how sometimes the FBI will chase a really bad criminal...you get what I'm saying?"

"So your a _criminal_?"

I groaned. "Okay, maybe I didn't give you enough info...you know that former secret scientist I was talking about before?"

Zak nodded again. "Mom, Dad and the other secret scientists talked about him a lot, even before we found you."

"Well, that's because...well, lets just say he's kind of...I guess you can say kind of like the Joker in _Batman_...you know that show, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, good, because I don't."

We both snickered.

"Anyway...ugh, okay, can you describe the Joker for me really quick? All I know is that he's bad."

"He's kinda crazy."

"Okay...yeah...um...he doesn't really scare you, does he?"

Zak shrugged. "Not before the nightmare I had about him."

Oh, so close.

"Alright...okay...um..." I realized my mistake. "Okay, forget everything I just said. I'm just gonna say that Dr. Alanes was...well, _is_ chasing me...you get what I'm saying?"

"Sort of...but what if he wasn't chasing you? Would you still be unhappy about your powers?"

I often thought about that...usually the answer was yes.

"Yeah...I think I would be."

"Again, why?"

"Well..." I ran my fingers through my hair nervously. "It's...it's really hard to explain Zak...do I have to explain this _tonight_?"

Zak shook his head. "No...I was just curious, but I don't want to make you talk about something uncomfortable."

I heaved out a relieved sigh. "Thanks Zak."

We were silent again for a few minutes. I was about to leave when I spotted a shape in the sky. I connected the stars together to see that the shape was an angel. It looked like another star had been added.

_"You see that?"_ Gratis's voice rang through my head, and I saw us, a year younger, sitting together on a summer evening on our old back porch in the quieter part of New York. This was our last night together before our parents died. _"Those stars are making an angel...you see, every one hundred people that die are created into a star, and that star will be part of that angel...some of them are hard to see because not everyone's spirits are bright enough because some of them are really bad. If there are more good souls, then the star will be bright enough to see in the angel."_

I brushed a tear from my eye.

_"But won't they be cramped?" _My seven-year-old self asked. _"Stars are so tiny!"_

Gratis chuckled. _"Well, they might _look_ like that from here, but their actually really big! Some of them are actually planets."_

I grimaced, pointing to the angel shape in the sky. "You see that?"

It took Zak a minute, but then he said, "It looks kind of like an angel."

"Exactly! You see...every one hundred people that die are created into a star, and that star will be a part of that angel, making it bigger...depending on the amount of good and bad souls, sometimes the star will be visible..." I sighed. The angel didn't look like it grew much in the year.

"Where did you learn that?" Zak asked, interested.

"...my brother..." My grimace faded. "He...he taught me on our last night of freedom..." tears trickled down my cheeks. I tried to brush them away, but it was too late; Zak had already seen them.

"You miss him...don't you?"

My tears won the battle this time, trickling down my cheeks. I couldn't keep my emotions bottled up any longer...it was too much. "I want him back." I sniffled, shuddering at the same time. "I want my brother back!" I felt the temperature around us rise, so I forced myself to calm down a bit...not so much to stop me from crying, but enough to control my fire. The temperature immediately went down.

"I'm sorry," said Zak sadly.

"Don't be...it's not your fault." I wiped the fresh tears away. "_I_ should be sorry...I...I didn't mean to freak you out..." I started to get up, but Zak's small hand grabbed my own.

"You didn't freak me out..." his brown eyes were filled with sorrow and almost pity. "You know, Mom said it wasn't good for you to keep your feelings bottled up."

"Who said I was bottling them up?" I snapped.

"I'm smarter than you think."

I sighed. "Yeah, you _are_ kinda different from most kids your age...smarter too."

We sat there for a few minutes, then Zak said something that nearly broke my heart into millions of pieces.

"Maybe _I_ can be your brother...if you want..."

This time, my smile was real for a change. I was touched...truly, _truly_ touched that _anyone_ would ask me that...to be a part of their family for _real_.

"Yeah...I-I'd like that."

...and from that night on, I had always called Zak my little brother...


	4. Chapter 3

**(To those of you who are about to read this, feel free to do so, but this is an old story of mine. I am moving it from my original account to this new account, which is mainly for old stories that I do not wish to keep on my main account, which is named _Dylexa_. I won't have anything good up there for a while, sadly. I am working on it though!)**

**Chapter three:**

**Fuck the men in the fire proof suits**

**(Dylexa: Well, nothing much. Just don't forget to review)**

_**Eight years later...**_

_"MOM! DAD! RUN!" Marissa cried, gaping in horror as her old house burned down._

_No matter how much she screamed and cried, they weren't coming out. They were still fast asleep in their beds._

_"NO!"_

_Suddenly, Marissa's surroundings changed. This time she was in the laboratory. She was strapped down to the same table she was strapped to when Dr. Alanes had implanted Marissa's fire into her. She fought against the leather straps, but the rough, wide fingers of the table wouldn't budge. Marissa was trapped._

_A skinny, pale boy covered in blood and burn scars drifted over her. Marissa gasped as she realized who it was;_

_"Why didn't rescue me Marissa?" Gratis's eyes were filled with tears. "They hurt me! T-they tortured me!" He whimpered, something he himself told Marissa a long time ago _never_ to do around your enemies. "YOU DIDN'T COME BACK!"_

_Marissa, horrified, said "I'm sorry...we looked all over for you!"_

_He sobbed, shaking violently._

_"Gratis, I'm s-"_

_**BOOM!**_

_Gratis's eyes widened in horror as a big rose of blood formed on his already tattered and bloody clothes. Marissa shrieked as he collapsed on top of her, splattering blood on her. Evil laughter rang out through the room._

_"You know you could have saved him!" Dr. Alanes guffawed wickedly. "You know that if you didn't try to escape before he would have been alive now! I wouldn't have had to do what I did!"_

_Marissa cried out in horror, struggling against the straps and trying to get Gratis's dead body off of her._

_Dr. Alanes hovered over her, holding a large syringe filled with a black liquid. Marissa trembled. _

_"If you would have just stayed put you would have been fine!" Dr. Alanes roared. "Now your going to die!" His horrible laugh rang through out the room again._

_"Why are you doing this?"_

_Dr. Alanes stroked Marissa's blood splattered hair. "My dear, I am doing this simply because...well, I simply just like to see you in pain..." now the needle was only a half a millimeter from Marissa's chest. "Now, are you ready to _die_?"_

_"Please, give me another chance!" Marissa begged. "Please!"_

_**...**_

**(Marissa's POV)**

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

_Thump!_

I flailed out my arms in my soft, velvety captor that was named my blanket. I felt something else trying to hit me.

"OUCH! MARISSA CHILL!"

I stopped, panting hard, trying to force myself to calm down.

_Hiss!_

A small, cold body hugged me through the blankets for a mere second, ending it's tiny pitiful life and exploded on me. I shivered as the water soaked through the blankets and my pajamas.

"Marissa, are you okay?" Zak pulled my burned blankets off me and offered his hand. I took it, and with Zak's help I was on my feet. I saw that he was holding an empty cup.

That's when I noticed that his orange pajama sleeve was burned halfway through, and he had a dark burn mark on his arm from his wrist to his elbow.

"Oh my god...Zak, are you-"

"I'm fine Sis!"

I sighed. "What were you doing in my room?"

Zak, inspecting his arm, said, "You were screaming...I wanted to make sure you were okay." He frowned, glancing at me. "Maris, you were really close to burning yourself this time...this is serious."

Over the past eight years, my fire had started to grow very difficult to control. I often had to sleep with a smoke detector and a fire extinguisher just to make sure I wouldn't accidentally kill myself in my sleep.

I stared at the fourteen-year-old in disbelief. "I was close to burning _myself_? Zak, I almost turned you into a _human torch! _How the hell could you be worrying about _me_?"

Zak shrugged. "It's what a brother is supposed to do."

"Okay, that's true," I kissed his head, heading for the door, "but you should worry about _yourself_ a little more." I opened the door. "C'mon, let's get that arm bandaged up."

Zak followed me into the bathroom, and I got started on bandaging his arm up;

I first dabbed some ointment on to soothe and cool his burn. He winced in pain when I first touched it.

"God, Zak I'm so sorry."

He grimaced. "It's fine. You didn't mean it."

I rolled my eyes. "Zak, c'mon, I know what a burn feels like! Those things hurt! I'm surprised your not _crying_!"

Zak smirked. "Boys barley cry."

"Hey! I once knew a very sensitive boy! Although...he was kinda weird...but plenty of normal boys can be sensitive!"

"Yeah, but not me."

I snickered as I wrapped a cloth bandage around Zak's arm. "Says the boy who can't sleep alone during a thunder storm at night."

"Hey! Thunder storms can be scary sometimes! And besides, your _terrified_ of the dar-"

"Okay, I get it." I finished wrapping up his arm. "Alright, your arm seems just about done. How does it feel?"

Zak rubbed it through the bandages. "Fine I guess." He smirked again. "I know this sounds weird, but I hope I get a scar."

I frowned. I had plenty of scars, but I simply _hated_ them. I'd trade them all for cleaner looking skin if I could.

"Welcome to the club," I said jokingly. "Sorry, no jackets. Our scars are plenty."

Zak laughed innocently at my joke. I simply frowned.

"So, um, where is everyone?" I asked, glancing at the clock. "It's twelve o'clock. Wouldn't everyone be up by now?"

"Mom and Dad had a meeting...it's lasting for at least _two_ days...and Uncle Doyle isn't gonna be back until six."

Doyle was Drew's long lost brother. At first he had been a mercenary, but fortunate for us he changed his ways.

"Why's Doyle out?"

Zak shrugged. "He just said he had something to do."

So we were going to be all by ourselves...well, besides our cryptid siblings, Komodo, Fiskerton and Zon;

Fiskerton was a seven foot tall gorilla cat. We had found him just a few months after I became part of the family, and Zon, a bird like cryptid (I forget what she is), we found just a while before we found Doyle.

"So...were completely _alone_?" I asked nervously. "Nobody's gonna watch us until six?"

"Yep!" Zak smiled for a second, but after seeing my concerned look he frowned. "What's wrong Sis?"

"Nothing...just a little concerned, that's all."

"For what?" Zak pulled me out of the bathroom with him. "What could possibly happen to us in the next six hours? We'll be fine!"

But we were about to find out how horribly wrong Zak was.

**...**

_Crash!_

I perked my head up at the sound of glass breaking. I was in my room listening to the song _"Hello, Goodbye" _by the Beatles when I heard it.

"Zak?" I called out, sitting up in my bed and turning off my radio. "Zak, what was that noise?"

Silence.

I frowned; usually after hearing the slightest noise I would always get very paranoid. It was kind of annoying actually.

_Just relax Marissa,_ my thoughts soothed. _Your always worried._

But I anxiously got out of my bed and walked out of my room anyway. "Zak? Are you okay?" When I felt the temperature in the room build up, I forced myself to calm down.

_Your gonna start a fire Marissa! Just stop being a paranoid bitch already!_

"MARISSA GET OUT OF HERE!" Zak sounded hysterical.

"Zak**?**!**?**" I rushed into the living room to see what the hell was going on.

Nothing. The room was lifeless.

_Boom!_

The sound of a gun came from outside. I rushed out in the cold weather to investigate;

Zak was no where to be seen, but I saw a man...a man in a fire proof suit...a man who's name brought me terror every time I even _thought_ about him.

Dr. Alanes.

He spotted me immediately and smirked that horrible, insanity filled smirk.

"I knew one of my little _rats_ was scurrying around here somewhere." He stepped closer to me. "My my, she's grown quite a lot over the years."

"W-what did you do to Zak?"

"_Tsk, Tsk, Tsk._ What, no _hello_?"

"TELL ME WHAT YOU DID TO ZAK YOU BASTARD!"

Dr. Alanes sighed. "Apparently my little rat has gained a mouth as well." He pulled out a gun. "Now...would you like to come back home _unharmed_? Or do I have to shoot you?"

"I'm _already_ home you dick."

_Boom!_

I cried out in pain as the bullet dug a tunnel into my arm.

"Marissa!"

I was partly relieved to hear Zak's voice and partly horrified;

While it was nice to know that Zak was okay, it scared me that he hadn't exactly run away yet.

_Zak, run the other way!_

Zak rushed up to me at my side. "Marissa, I told you to get out of here!"

I pulled the bullet out of my arm, wincing in pain as the blood rushed out. "_Me_? Zak, _you_ should have ran!" I was horrified.

"There he is!"

Two of Dr. Alanes's henchmen in similar fire proof suits suddenly appeared out of the corner of the balcony. The first one, a tall female, quickly grabbed Zak. Before Zak could fight back, she pulled out a pair of handcuffs and shackled Zak's hands behind him. The second henchmen, a man a little shorter than the woman, did the same with me.

"What is he still _doing_ here?" Dr. Alanes seethed with anger. "Your supposed to make sure he doesn't_ escape_!"

"Sir, he slipped away before we could fully secure him," my captor explained.

"So you let a _child_ over power you?**!**?"

If it weren't for the fact that we were about to be dragged to our doom, I would have laughed at this. Zak once managed to carry a full grown man up a radio tower at the age of _eleven_, so of course he could over power these people if it weren't for the fact that his hands were tied behind him with _metal_ handcuffs. Zak was kind of like a mix of a bird and a lion; he was strong, and had plenty of dignity left in him while he was smart and maybe even small enough to escape from captivity sooner or later.

_Maybe he can think of a way to get us out._

Despite Zak's intelligence, there was still one problem;

Our captors are _scientists_. There's no way that Zak and I could out smart a _scientist_. Even though we were _raised_ by scientists, were still just kids.

These jerks can do anything they want to us, and there's nothing we could do about it.

At that thought, I started to try to squirm out of my captor's grasp.

Dr. Alanes must have seen me trying to escape. "Make sure _she_ doesn't escape. This is one of my most important projects. It took _years_ to track her, so don't you dare let her escape!"

My captor, holding me tighter, started leading me away from home, down the balcony. Zak's captor did the same with him.

When we reached the actual ground, I was partly surprised to feel mud under my feet, since it was _freezing_ out here.

This gave me an idea. If Zak or I couldn't escape, I could at least give Doc, Drew and Doyle a clue when they got back.

I tried to escape my captors grasp again, dragging my feet into the mud.

_Bonk!_

My captor had grabbed his gun and hit me on the head with the handle. Stars viciously swarmed around my head. To make the pain worse, my captor dug his gloved thumb into my arm wound, drawing blood. I shrieked.

"Don't hurt her!" Zak exclaimed, trying to stop his captor from pushing him away.

Dr. Alanes was in the front with his back facing us, so he hadn't seen.

But obviously Zak's exclamation told him. Dr. Alanes stopped walking and faced us. We all stopped too.

"Bring the boy back into the helicopter," he instructed the woman, his voice ice cold. "We'll meet you there."

The woman nodded, pushing Zak forward once again. Zak struggled to get away from her.

"Zak, just go," I say, surprised at what had just come out of my mouth.

The woman pressed a gun up against Zak's back. "Yeah, you heard her. GET GOING!"

Reluctantly, Zak started walking again.

When they were both out of site, Dr. Alanes was the first one to speak;

"I'm warning you girl. Any more act of rebellion will get you into trouble-from this moment on. I have my whip with me, and I'm not afraid to use it. First step out of line will give you _ten_ hits. If you continue this, I'll add an extra ten.  
"If the whip doesn't work, I'll think of other ways to punish you," Dr. Alanes continued. "I'll dig out your worst fears-oh I know you have many. I'll do anything I can to teach you to _behave_."

I kept my expression brave, even though I was _terrified_. My worst fears? OF COURSE I HAVE MANY! I HAVE MORE THAN YOU CAN COUNT!

"How exactly are you going to _dig out _my worst fears?" I dared to ask.

Dr. Alanes smirked. He pulled out a syringe filled with clear liquid.

_Big deal. You used to inject me with all kinds of fuck every day._

"Do you know what this is?"

I shook my head.

That made his smirk widen. "_This_, is _truth_ serum. I'm sure you have a pretty good idea what it does to someone if they lie, do you not?"

Oh I knew very well what truth serum could do to someone at it's full power. Often Gratis and I used to watch Dr. Alanes inject victims with that stuff from our cages. A few times Dr. Alanes had even used it on Gratis, but he never tried it on me.

But I knew exactly what could happen if you tried to lie. Often times, if you were lucky, you simply just couldn't lie, but Gratis told me that if you did, you start to get a horrible migraine. This migraine will continue to get worse and worse until you could no longer bear it, if you tell the truth, or if the impossible happened, it wears off before it became unbearable.

Unfortunately, depending on the amount doused into you, this stuff could last for _hours_.

However, if one drop too much was injected into you, you could die from over douse.

I nodded, shifting my sore wrists around in my handcuffs.

Dr. Alanes paced around slowly, reminding me of a panther pacing it's prey. "There are _more_ punishments I can do..._without_ having to douse you with truth serum..." He put away the syringe. "It would be a shame if that young boy you call Zak died from some 'accident' in the lab, now wouldn't it be?"

I gasped. "You wouldn't!"

Dr. Alanes stopped, facing me. "You know I would."

He was right. I knew that Dr. Alanes was mad enough to torture, or even _kill_ Zak in some sick way, even without me acting up.

Dr. Alanes, apparently satisfied with his threats, turned his back towards me and my captor, and started moving forward. I was walked forward as well.

**...**

When I got into the helicopter, I was immediately given a pill, which blocked my fire. This pill would last for about ten to twelve hours.

I would have liked this pill a lot if it weren't for the fact that it made me horribly _cold_ for that amount of time too.

Ten to twelve hours of cold. _Fun._

When the pill was inside me, I was taken into the back of the helicopter. Zak was sitting in the middle of the room.

His hands were no longer bound behind him, and his hair was sticking up in many places.

The scientist that had brought me in had already left, closing the door behind him. If it wasn't for the tiny window at the end of the room, we would have been in complete darkness.

I was about to try to open the door, but I felt a hand stop me. Zak pulled me as far away from the door as possible.

"What's wrong Zak?"

I felt Zak shudder. "D-don't touch the door...it shocks you if you touch it from the inside."

"Oh." I touched Zak's hair. "Did you try to open it?"

Zak nodded. "It's pretty intense."

I felt the medication I took starting to kick in. The room suddenly felt thirty degrees cooler. I resisted the urge to shiver.

"Are you alright?"

Once again, Zak nodded. "Just a little _shocked_." He snickered. "Get it? _Shocked_?"

I didn't smile. I couldn't believe that Zak was actually making _jokes_ right now.

Zak frowned. "What?"

I shook my head. "Nothing." I sat down on the floor against the wall, holding my breath when the cold metal touched my neck. "Damn it's so cold in here."

_Brrrrring!_

The helicopter was starting to fly...our last chance to try to break out of here some how and hide at home was gone. I felt the same, depressing, gut crunching feeling I felt when I thought about Gratis...

Zak sat down next to me. "Are you feeling okay? Because I'm not really that cold."

"I'm fine...it's just the medication I just took...it _literally_ makes my body cold so I can't make fire."

Zak was silent. He scooted next to me, trying to warm me. I was a little surprised-Zak usually wasn't very affectionate-but grateful, even though the warmth he provided only lasted a few seconds.

_Shit I hope we wont be here for too long._

I hugged my knees, making myself warm for a second before the medication eliminated that.

"Does your arm feel okay?" Zak asked. I blinked for a second, confused, but then I remembered that I had gotten shot in the arm. I touched the hole for a second, but drew my hand back when I felt my arm sting.

"It's kind of like a skinned knee," I replied. "It hurts a little more while trying to get the bullet out, but it's basically the same thing. Might sting a little more though depending on how far the bullet got in."

"Oh."

The helicopter did a turn, making us slide to the right of the room.

"How's _your_ arm feeling?"

Zak shrugged. "Alright I guess."

"You _guess_?"

Zak rolled his eyes. "What are you, my_ mom_?"

I ruffled his hair. "Might as well be for the time being."

Zak chuckled.

As the seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes turned into hours, the room started getting dark as well. By the time night came, the only thing supplying us with light was the moon.

It must have been pretty late because Zak was falling asleep.

I was kind of tired myself. I was finally starting to warm up, but I was too tired to really care.

"I guess we should get some sleep," I sighed. "Might as well get some sleep while we still could."

Zak was already asleep next to me.

_I wish it were that easy for _me_._

I lied down on my back and closed my eyes into what I hoped to be a dreamless sleep...


	5. Chapter 4

**(To those of you who are about to read this, feel free to do so, but this is an old story of mine. I am moving it from my original account to this new account, which is mainly for old stories that I do not wish to keep on my main account, which is named _Dylexa_. I won't have anything good up there for a while, sadly. I am working on it though!)**

**Chapter four:**

**The punishment**

**(Marissa's POV)**

"Wake up!" I felt a foot kick my side, almost hard enough to hurt. I forced myself to sit up, struggling to keep my eyes open. "Wake up child!" The foot kicked me again.

I looked up to see that Dr. Alanes was standing over me. I looked around the room quickly to see that Zak was gone.

"Where is he?" I demanded.

Dr. Alanes pulled me up, took out a pair of handcuffs, and attempted to lock my hands behind me. I backed away.

"If you don't tell me where he is right now, I'll-"

"You'll _what_? _Shoot_ me?" Dr. Alanes smiled at my rage. "In case you haven't noticed, you don't have a gun. Besides, the boy is fine, so you have no reason to. He's waiting outside with my employees. Now, come over here before I loose my patience, girl. You know the consequences."

I sighed in defeat, not wanting to get me or Zak into trouble, and walked to Dr. Alanes. He chained my wrists behind me.

"Much better." He pulled out a pill, and put it in my mouth. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to whip you."

"What?**!**? Wh-"

"Swallow the pill first!"

I obeyed, swallowing the wretched thing. "Why do you have to whip me? I've done nothing wrong!"

"Oh, but you just did," Dr. Alanes shot back. "I told you, any act of rebellion and you'll be _punished_! Threatening me counts."

"But I didn't-"

"If I didn't interrupt you, you would have!"

"But," I tried to come up with an excuse-_anything_ to avoid the beating, "don't I get a chance? A warning?"

"I already warned you. _Yesterday_. And you already had your chance."

"But-"

"It's either you that gets the beating, or the _boy_."

I shut my mouth in shock. _Zak_? He doesn't deserve to get a beating! How could Dr. Alanes even _think_ of putting Zak in a situation that has nothing to do with him?**!**?

I struggled to keep my emotions under control. I didn't want to cry in front of Dr. Alanes, the same cruel, sick man that tortured Gratis and I for so long.

"Now, who's it going to be, girl?"

Even though I didn't want to take the beating, I said, "I'll take it."

"Your lucky girl, because I'm not whipping you yet. After I bring you into the lab, I have to go for a few days, and, I want to whip you myself." Dr. Alanes lead me out, both of us avoiding the dangerous door that had shocked Zak before. I silently wondered if Gratis had to suffer something like what I was suffering now when we had first been captured.

I suddenly thought of Fiskerton, Komodo and Zon. I hoped that Dr. Alanes hadn't bothered to capture them, and hid them somewhere.

When we got out of the helicopter, I couldn't help but tremble for a second;

It felt like we were inside a big freezer. Large snow flakes drifted down-it took a lot of strength to resist trying to catch them with my tongue-and the woodsy scenery was covered in a blanket of snow. I saw a large building about five yards away. I suddenly realized that we weren't going to the same laboratory that Gratis and I were originally in. My heart ached. I moved my wrists in a little more comfortable position, wincing in pain when the arm that had gotten shot touched the helicopter.

I noticed Zak and the same people who helped capture us waiting a few feet away, as Dr. Alanes promised.

But Zak wasn't so _fine_ like Dr. Alanes had said.

The poor fourteen-year-old boy was soaking wet and shivering. His nose was also bloody, and looked to be broken.

"What the hell did you two _do_ to him**?**!**?**" Dr. Alanes shouted. "I told you two not to hurt him!"

"He slipped down the stairs," the woman replied calmly. I glanced at Zak to see that his expression had turned slightly angry.

_I bet that bitch tripped him._

Dr. Alanes walked over to Zak, pulled out a key, and rearranged the position of his handcuffs so that they were locked in front of him. "Go wash that off with some snow-I don't want to have to do surgery on that, so you better hope that it heals okay in the next few days."

Zak nodded. He knelled down, picked up some snow and rubbed his nose lightly with it.

When he was done, Dr. Alanes repositioned Zak's hands back behind him again.

When we got inside the building, I felt my body feel slightly warmer, but I was still cold, due to the medication. I noted to myself to try to fake taking the pill. Hopefully, if I'm lucky, they wont notice, and I could spit it out as soon as they left.

There were many other scientists in the building, all in lab coats. I tried my best to ignore the stares I got...I was sure that they recognized me as the fire starter-I recognized _them_ pretty well myself.

We walked up some stairs a few times, stopping occasionally from scientists who had questions about us.

"Is that experiment number _fourteen_?" A man, I recognized as one of the men who fed Gratis and I, named Dr. Muritony, asked eagerly. "_The_ experiment number fourteen?" He was oblivious to Zak.

Dr. Alanes nodded, stroking my hair. "Yes, it is. She was very easy to catch...almost a little _too_ easy for me."

I wanted more than ever to say every rude thing possible to these two, but I knew that I would only make my already bad punishment worse.

"Well, she's certainly _grown_ a lot. Not a little twig anymore."

When we finally stopped up to where I believed was the cage room, Dr. Alanes dismissed the employees. They left without hesitation.

Dr. Alanes opened the door, and motioned for us to get inside. I tried not to shiver as the cold air from the room stroked me.

When we got inside, I saw that the room looked very similar to the cage room that Gratis and I had been locked in. There were many cages stacked on each other, but there weren't very many people-experiments-animals-you get the point-. There were only about two people, who I saw to be twins, boy and girl. They both kept their heads down. If there were others, they were decaying in their cage.

Dr. Alanes opened an empty, fairly large cage, unlocked our hands and once again motioned for us to go inside.

I thought about trying to escape, but when I saw Dr. Alanes take out a gun I gave up on the thought. Instead, I followed Zak into the cage. Dr. Alanes locked us in, and left quickly, engulfing us into darkness. I felt my claustrophobia rise.

_We need to get out of here_, I looked around nervously. _As soon as I come up with an idea, I'm getting us out of here!_

I touched the bars of the cage, but drew back immediately when I felt how cold they were.

I looked around again and in the dark I noticed Zak shiver. I remembered that he was still wet from falling in the snow, and I figured that he must have been _miserable_ like this. I decided to take off the red sweater that I had been wearing, and wrap in around my little brother.

"I know, it's cold," I whispered, pulling him close to me, hugging him to get him warmer. "But try not to shiver, alright? It shows weakness."

"Aren't _you_ gonna need the sweater too?" Zak's voice sounded a little strange since his nose was broken. Sort of like how your voice could sound like if you plugged it then spoke at the same time.

I hugged him a little tighter. "I think I'll be okay. The sweater doesn't help me much anyway, and your _wet_. I don't want you to get sick here."

"I'll be _fine_!"

I rolled my eyes. "Zak, stop the act. I know I'd be reacting the same way if I were you."

Zak sighed. He snuggled up closer to me. Our position kind of reminded me of a mother snuggling with her child.

"Are you scared Zak?"

I saw Zak nod in the dark. I kissed his head. "I am too kiddo."

We stayed in the same position for a long time, silent.

After what seemed like eternity, Zak said, "What was it like for you and Gratis?"

Tears flooded my eyes. "I can't tell you Zak...it's too scary." I was careful to keep my voice low so the twins couldn't over hear us; I knew it didn't matter if they heard, but I didn't feel comfortable having this conversation so loud with other people here.

"Please...it's gonna happen to us anyway! Why not prepare me for it?"

I sniffled. "It's like my fire...it's hard to explain..."

"Then just tell me what they might do to me."

"They can do a lot of stuff Zak...they can do to you what they did to me...maybe worse..." I buried my face in his shoulder. "They can starve you, they can separate us...they can torture you...they'll probably experiment on you...you know...our chances of escape are slim...our only hope is that Doc and Drew find us."

"I know...but...you know...there's a bright side to this."

"Okay, when you tripped, did you hit your head or something?"

Zak chuckled. "No, just my nose...but I was thinking...maybe you can find Gratis here."

I stopped. _Gratis?_ Here? _Really?_

"I don't think this is the same lab we found you in," Zak explained. "Maybe...maybe he was _moved_ here."

"Yeah, but...he's not in here..." I frowned. "Zak, he could have died _years_ ago."

"I know...but it's just a thought."

Over the next few days we stayed in the cage together. My arm wound was healing okay.

Nobody came to feed us, but occasionally we were given a little water. I only sipped it a little and let Zak have the rest. I couldn't let him get sick here.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't prevent Zak from getting sick during this amount of time. By our third morning here he was burning with fever.

Unfortunately, our third morning here was also the morning Dr. Alanes was coming back.

That meant that this morning, or at the latest, sometime today, I was going to get my punishment.

"Are you okay Marissa?" Zak sounded worried, and his voice was also scratchy due to a sore throat. "You've been kind of quiet."

"I'm fine..."

"Are you sure?"

I suddenly heard footsteps towards the door to the room.

"Zak..." I struggled to keep my voice steady. "Dr. Alanes is-"

_Creak..._

I shielded my eyes as light burst into the room. When I saw that it was Dr. Alanes, I put on my brave face. I knew exactly what he was coming for.

He walked over to the cage, swinging the key that would unlock our door tauntingly.

"I think you know why I'm here," he announced. "Or have you _forgotten_?"

"What is he talking about?" Zak asked. "Marissa, what's going on?"

I ignored him, and nodded. I didn't want to sound weak trying to explain to Zak what was about to happen to me. "I remember."

Dr. Alanes smirked. He unlocked the door and waited for me to come out. I slowly walked out, trying to keep my balance; when you've been locked in a cage for almost three days without getting out _once_, your legs tend to get very numb.

Zak was about to follow me out, but Dr. Alanes closed the door on him. He gripped the bars of the cage, reminding me of a monkey.

"Trust me child, your not going to want to be around when the girl gets her punishment."

Zak's already unusually pale face paled whiter, making his once tan face as white as the snow that came down outside.

"I'll be okay..." I grimaced. "Don't worry about me...I promise I'll be back."

Dr. Alanes chained my hands behind me, and lead me away...

**...**

Dr. Alanes lead me outside. I noticed that it had gotten even colder than I remembered, and the snow was higher then I remembered it to be. I wished I had bothered to bring my sweatshirt before I remembered that Zak was sick, and to me, sick people need warmth a lot more than healthy people...even if the healthier one was freezing their ass off in a _tank top_.

Wind howled, and I wondered why Dr. Alanes would whip me outside on a windy day.

Dr. Alanes pulled out a long, barbed whip...it looked a lot more affective than I remembered it to be the last time he had whipped me. I backed away in fear, the snow crunching under my boots.

"While I was gone," Dr. Alanes started. "I couldn't help but notice this poor thing just lying out in the field...so I brought it here...I haven't tried it out, so I don't know what it'll be like...but I'm sure it'll be _very_ brutal...pretty good punishment for threatening me, now don't you think?"

I was too paralyzed with fear to say anything. While my brain told me to run, my feet weren't listening.

Dr. Alanes lead me to a tree and rearranged my handcuffs so that it made it seem like I was hugging the tree. The handcuffs chaffed into my wrists painfully while bark dug into my arms like claws. I was thankful that my gun wound wasn't touching the bark.

When I felt the wind blowing at my hands, it was then I realized that Dr. Alanes had set me up opposite to the wind so that it wouldn't sooth my soon to be bloody back. I strained against the chains that bound me.

"Now...how many hits do you think I should give you?" Dr. Alanes asked maliciously. "One seems like too little...I was thinking more like _twenty_...does that sound good?"

I thanked god that I wasn't facing Dr. Alanes because tears were soaking my face.

"Twenty it is." I closed my eyes, readying myself the the agony that was about to come. Dr. Alanes lowered the whip down on my back quickly. "One."

I gritted my teeth as the whip dug deeply into my back, drawing blood.

"Two." The whip came down a second time. I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming. "Three...four-"

At four I just couldn't take it anymore. I screamed.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME! HELP!" I sobbed.

I heard Dr. Alanes chuckle. "Stupid girl..._five_..."

I continued to weep as Dr. Alanes kept bringing that wretched whip down on my back over and over again...I thought I was gonna die, or faint...I didn't think I'd make it until...

"...Twenty..." Dr. Alanes pulled the whip off my back one more time. I whimpered, feeling light-headed. I barley noticed that Dr. Alanes had unlocked my hands. I fell on my back into the snow and closed my eyes...the coolness of the snow felt so good on my back...

"Get up!" I heard Dr. Alanes shout angrily. "Get up you stupid girl!"

I wanted to get up, but I couldn't. I was too weak...darkness started pulling me down...down down down into a world so familiar that it was almost comforting...

**...**

I groaned in pain...my back was raw and sore. I was like a piece of meat in a butcher's kitchen.

The ground underneath me felt cold and metallic. It took me a minute to realize where I was.

"Zak?" I forced my eyes open. It was dark. "Zak?"

I felt around for him. When I felt something, I pulled it.

My sweatshirt.

But Zak wasn't in it. I realized that Zak wasn't even in the cage.

"Z-Zak?**!**? Where are you?**!**?"


	6. Chapter 5

**(To those of you who are about to read this, feel free to do so, but this is an old story of mine. I am moving it from my original account to this new account, which is mainly for old stories that I do not wish to keep on my main account, which is named _Dylexa_. I won't have anything good up there for a while, sadly. I am working on it though!)**

**Chapter five:**

**The lost days (part one)**

**(Dylexa: In the last chap I forgot to thank Shippofan2k, so thank you! Oh yes, people, I edited the prologue, so you might want to go see. There's not too much change, but there's a little involving later important parts in the story, so if your not gonna read the actual chapter, then at least read the authors note I wrote in it. Oh yes, sometimes the TSS characters wont be in this chap, but I urge you to read it anyway! This is based off a story I will be writing, so this isn't just a fanfic with TSS characters. SO READ THE WHOLE THING PEOPLE!)**

_A few days ago..._

"What do you _mean_ you left Marissa and Zak _alone_?**!**?" Drew shouted angrily at her brother. "YOU COULD HAVE PROTECTED THEM!"

"How was I supposed to know that they'd get kidnapped?**!**?" Doyle Blackwell, Drew's younger brother snapped.

"IT WAS YOUR _JOB _TO PROTECT THEM!"

Fiskerton whimpered. He hated fights, especially when they were loud.

"Drew, their _teenagers_! I thought that they would have been able to take care of themselves for a couple of hours! Besides, we don't _know_ that they've been kidnapped!"

"Then what else do you think Fiskerton heard?**!**? Doyle, Doc and I trusted you to _protect _them! Isn't that right Do-...Doc?"

"I'm out here! Come look at this!"

Drew, Fiskerton and Doyle walked outside. Tiny snow flakes floated down.

"What is it Doc?" Drew asked. "Did you find something?"

Doc held a bloody bullet in his gloved hand. Drew, Fisk and Doyle gasped.

"I guess I should have watched them..." Doyle frowned.

"Yeah, you _should_ have!"

Doyle scowled at his sister. "Shut up."

"Don't tell me to shut up! I'm your older sister!"

"_So_? I'm _thirty one_! Your not the boss of me!"

"If only you two were able to get along a little better like Marissa and Zak," Doc muttered. Fiskerton nodded in agreement.

"What was that?" The siblings asked.

"Nothing," Doc sighed. "Anyway, we know that the kidnapper used a gun, right?"

"No, he used a water gun with chocolate milk," Doyle said sarcastically. Drew elbowed him. "Drew!"

"Continue," Drew said, ignoring Doyle.

"Well...if we run some DNA tests, we can really prove this...I mean, maybe a few years ago this bullet some how got here, and this could all be a coincidence."

"/It's _not_ a coincidence!/" Fiskerton exclaimed. "/I saw a helicopter fly above here while I was out, and when I got back to the house, Marissa and Zak were gone!/"

"Looks like someone wasn't doing his job," said Doyle.

"Doyle, will you shut up already?**!**?" Drew raised her voice warningly.

_I'm glad I'm an only child,_ Doc thought.

**...**

**(Marissa's POV)**

I hugged my knees tightly and buried my head in them, letting out a few tears. Zak was gone and it was my fault for not watching him...oh if I just kept my fucking mouth _shut_, Zak still would have been here, or at the least I would have known where he went!

I pulled on my sweat shirt when I felt a breeze, pulling it close to my chilled body. Surprisingly, I felt warm.

_Maybe the medication wore off..._

"Is...is Zak a boy around age thirteen or fourteen? With multi colored hair?" A voice asked. It sounded like a young boy around age ten or eleven.

I took my head away from my knees, wiping away the tears. "Y-yeah...have you seen him?"

Light suddenly spread out around the room. I looked across from my cage to see the boy. He was one of the twins I saw...his sister was nowhere in sight.

The boy was quite handsome actually for someone so young, now that I was actually looking at him. He looked to be about eleven years old. He had dark skin and dark hair, with light brown eyes...he looked completely normal until I saw _fire_ in his hand. I gasped. Was he-

"Yeah...I can control fire," he answered. "I can read minds too."

I winced. I didn't feel comfortable with the fact that he had read my-

"Oh, I'm sorry." He frowned. "I didn't know you would be uncomfortable...please forgive me...my ability is a little hard to control." He looked scared. I felt guilty.

"No, it's alright, I understand...but...how are you able to _control_ your fire like that? I...I have fire like that too...but usually when it starts, it can't be stopped so easily."

"You have fire _too_? Wait...you must be experiment number fourteen."

I nodded. "Please, call me Marissa...what's your name?"

"Dr. Alanes calls me experiment number fourteen _B_, but my real name is Samir...and, to answer your other question, I'm not sure. All I know is that I woke up with this one day...I accidentally burned my sister, since we used to share the same cage." His expression turned very sad.

"_Used _to? What...no, I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask."

"It's alright," Samir sighed. "I just need to accept what happened to her..." tears trickled down his face. "You were being brought back to your cage, unconscious. You were also covered in blood...from a whipping...am I right?"

I nodded again, unsure about where he was going with this.

"Well...my sister, Sage...she...she saw your condition...and...she just couldn't take seeing another victim so abused...so, she said something really rude to Dr. Alanes..." Samir sniffled. "Dr. Alanes was really angry about this...I was really scared...Dr. Alanes decided that my sister didn't deserve to live anymore...said that she had behaved too horribly...so...h-he..." Samir burst into tears. His light went out.

I didn't care that it was dark in here now...I was too disgusted. Just as Dr. Alanes seemed like he could not be any worse...he gets _brutal_.

"Samir..." I took a deep breath, heart broken from Samir's sobbing. "Samir, I'm so sorry...I...I know what it's like, loosing someone you care about..."

I heard him sniffle again. He lit another fire in his hand, and I was able to see him again. His eyes were red.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have cried like that..." He rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "A-anyway...I still haven't told you about where Zak is, have I?"

"No...but, don't be sorry Samir...it's okay to cry."

He sighed, ignoring my last comment. "Dr. Alanes took Zak away just a few days ago...I don't know specifically _where_ he took him...Zak hasn't been brought back yet..."

I gasped. "A few _days_ ago?**!**? H-how long was I out?"

"Four days."

I covered my mouth with my hand...was I really that weak to be out for _four_ days from only _twenty_ hits? Eight years ago, I was able to last through about _fifty_!

And Zak...he's been gone for _two_ whole days...I tried not to whimper. "Zak..." I shook my head. _He's not dead...Dr. Alanes promised that he wouldn't kill him unless I did something wrong._

"Maybe you _did_ do something wrong," said Samir suddenly. I flinched. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine." I hugged my knees again, gritting my teeth when I felt the gash on my back split. "But...I already got my punishment...no way did-" I stopped.

_Maybe Dr. Alanes took Zak away from me because I fainted...maybe I wasn't supposed to faint._

I shook my head. "That's silly," I murmured. "I couldn't help it."

Could I have?

"Was he your brother?" Samir asked.

"Kind of...you see...his family found me a long time ago...we always insisted that we were siblings...people said that we looked similar too." It was true. People always assumed that we were twins, and that Zak just decided to die his hair that color, even though the shock of white in black was natural.

But since Zak was almost as tall as me now, people _really_ have been thinking that we were twins. The only difference was the hair really.

"Oh...I thought you guys were twins," Samir said.

"Everyone thinks that," I sighed. My breath warmed my legs, and I suddenly realized that Samir couldn't possibly have been given a pill. "...Samir...can I ask you something?"

He nodded.

"Well...how come you can control your fire right now? Usually Dr. Alanes's employees give me a pill so I can't use them...why don't they give _you_ a pill?"

Samir frowned. "Because...because they know that I'm too scared to try to escape...they know that I know that it'd be too hard to escape on my own...they just stopped giving it to me a few days ago...my sister is what kept me trying...but...now..." He sniffled again, and turned out the light.

I sighed again. It all made sense now...they took Zak away from me because they knew that I would give up on trying to escape...even if they didn't kill him, I didn't know where he was. Dr. Alanes knew that I wouldn't _dare_ leave without my baby brother, and he knew that Zak wouldn't think of leaving me as well...

**...**

**(Zak's POV)**

"He's ready," I heard scientist Dr. Muritony say. "He's defiantly ready Dr. Alanes. This will be our _greatest_ experiment yet! Even better than experiment _fourteen_!"

"Are you sure? I don't want to accidentally kill him. We've _never_ done this before." I winced at Dr. Alanes words.

_You mean you jerks are willing to risk my life for some stupid hobby?_

"Sir, if I wasn't sure, would I be _telling _you that he's ready for this?"

"Well...you _sound_ confident enough...alright, let him out."

I backed away fearfully in my small cage. This experiment sounded dangerous and painful, and I did not want to be a part of it.

Dr. Muritony pulled me out effortlessly. I tried to get away, but his grip on me was strong.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted. I felt the same hot arrow of fear in my back as when the secret scientists started chasing me back when they found out I was the reincarnation of Kur;

While the secret scientists actually had a heart, they still managed to show their dark side when they found out. It took them two whole years to get them to stop.

Still...what they did changed my opinion about them...well, most of them at least.

But during the past few days without Marissa...I learned that Dr. Alanes could be much worse than all the bad things in the world combined times two.

Dr. Alanes was a heartless, sick, and crazy man.

When Dr. Alanes took me away from Marissa, he had done so many horrifying and unexplainable things to me, that I couldn't even count _three_ without breaking down into tears.

Dr. Muritony tried to keep me controlled, but I was faster;

I slipped out of his grasp and ran towards the table with tools. I had a feeling that I could use one of the tools as a weapon, and threaten to use it unless Dr. Alanes set Marissa and I free. I was so close, so close...a little too close-

I crashed into the table, falling down, and bringing everything down with me. I cried out in pain as a pair of scissors meant to cut open skin dug deeply into my shoulder. Suddenly, I felt something heavy hit my head and before I could blink I was out like a light...


	7. Chapter 6

**(To those of you who are about to read this, feel free to do so, but this is an old story of mine. I am moving it from my original account to this new account, which is mainly for old stories that I do not wish to keep on my main account, which is named _Dylexa_. I won't have anything good up there for a while, sadly. I am working on it though!)**

**Chapter six:**

**The lost days (part two)**

**(Dylexa: HI! I just got one thing to say! [Hugs Yayturtle] THANK YOU! Yayturtle just put me in her latest chapter of "Dragon Bite" Peoplez! ]=SD (that's a gentlemen smiley with a hat and mustache!) Enjoy people! Oh yes, I changed the name to "The last Sunshine"! It is now "Experiment#14"!)**

Doc frowned worriedly as he studied the bullet in his hand; he recognized this bullet. He knew he saw it somewhere! He just _knew _it! But _where_? Where have these lethal things come from?

"Doc, you've been studying that thing for _hours_," Doyle yawned. "Drew's already asleep...you should go to bed."

Doc glared at his brother-in-law. "Doyle, Marissa and Zak have been _kidnapped_! How on earth can expect me to sleep on this?**!**?"

"Um...Drew did."

Doc sighed. "She hasn't slept in _days_."

"Neither have you."

Doc ignored him. He looked at the big screen on the wall. It had taken _hours_ to find out who's blood the bullet was covered in, but sooner or later, they had finally found out who it's victim was;

Marissa.

Marissa had been the one who had been shot...they didn't know if she was dead...but the family feared she might be. They feared that Zak might be dead too by now.

Doc, Drew and Doyle had found footprints by the house that had shown a sign of a struggle.

This was a clue...the family had confirmed that the poor teens had been kidnapped.

"Who would want to take Marissa and Zak?" Doc asked himself out loud.

Komodo suddenly materialized next to Doc. Doc patted his head. A thought suddenly came into the man's head.

_Wait...who else would want to take Marissa besides Dr. Alanes?_!_? Of course! He must have found her and Zak here!_

Doc suddenly realized who's bullet this was. Dr. Alanes had made these bullets long ago.

"Doyle...I think I know who took Marissa and Zak," Doc announced.

**...**

**(Marissa's POV)**

My head pounded as I felt myself being carried over someone's shoulder.

"Put her down gently...I don't want to hurt her now."

I groaned when I felt myself being dropped into a chair. Leather straps quickly bind my wrists and ankles to the arms and legs of the chair. I opened my eyes, but my vision was dark.

_Shit! I'm blind! _I tugged against the straps. _Oh fuck what did that bastard to do me?_!_?_

I tugged against the straps for a minute before giving up. I knew where I was, and I knew I shouldn't be trying to escape.

Nothing but misery will come out of it.

"Did my little pet enjoy her nap?" I suddenly was able to see again. Dr. Alanes was standing in front of me, holding a black blindfold. I felt my cheeks burn; I felt quite embarrassed that I thought that I was blind while I was just being blindfolded.

I looked around and realized that I was in an office. There was only one window, but there were curtains so I couldn't see what was out there. There was a desk in front of the window, with a chair as well. Dr. Alanes sat down in the chair.

Besides the desk, there was not much else in the office.

I tried to speak before I realized that I was gagged with a piece of cloth. The cloth tasted metallic. I tried to spit it out, but it was too big and too deep in my mouth. There was a little sticking out and I saw that it was red.

I realized that my gag was part of my sweatshirt. I looked behind me to see that a chunk of the hood was missing. A different color of red was splattered on the hood as well. Blood.

When Dr. Alanes realized that I was trying to speak, he pulled the gag out. "I have some questions for you."

"H-how did I get here?"

"My dear, don't you remember?"

"No." I winced as pain exploded through my head.

Dr. Alanes frowned. "You must have gotten amnesia when you hit your head on the door."

_What?_!_?_

I tugged at my restraints again. "What do you want from me? I haven't done anything!" I ignored the rope burn I got from struggling.

"Relax girl, I know you've done nothing wrong," I stopped struggling at that. I felt slightly better, but I was still scared. "I told you, I have some questions for you." He pulled out a syringe. I gasped as I realized that it was truth serum, and immediately strained against the straps again.

Dr. Alanes saw me struggle and smirked. "I know that you will lie, so that is why I have this."

"I-I wont lie!" I lied. I knew that if Dr. Alanes was gonna have to dose me with truth serum, then it was something that I didn't want to talk about. "B-besides! You promised that you wouldn't use it on me unless I was bad! You just said that I've done nothing wrong!"

"I had a change in plans."

I felt the temperature in the room rise at a very uncomfortable level. "Let me out!" I tried to wriggle my wrists free from their binds.

Dr. Alanes stood up, walked over to me with the syringe in his hand, and injected me. "Calm down, girl."

A few minutes passed by, and I started to relax. The truth serum spread through every last part in my body until I was forced to completely relax. I felt my wrists and ankles throb painfully now that I had stopped struggling. The temperature of the room lowered to it's original number.

Dr. Alanes smirked, satisfied with how much I had calmed down in such a short amount of time. "Guess I put a little more than I thought into you."

I stayed silent, but my insides burned with anger.

_You bastard!_

"Now...do you know where the rest of the secret scientists are?"

"Not really," I replied truthfully. I couldn't believe what was coming out of my mouth.

"Not really? What do you mean?"

"Well...I know where Paul Cheechoo is...he's in the cold part of Canada...I don't know specifically _where_...and my guardians...Doc and Drew Saturday, they live where you ambushed Zak and I."

Dr. Alanes nodded. "I figured that a few of the secret scientists lived there...how come they weren't there when I was?"

"They had a meeting with the other secret scientists."

"Do you know what it was about?"

"No."

I hated myself for just letting the truth serum squeeze information out of me...I _had_ to do something about this, I just had-

"Does the _boy_ know anything more than you do?"

I winced. I couldn't let Dr. Alanes inject Zak with truth serum, I just couldn't-

"He knows a little more about-" I forced myself to stop.

_Shut up Marissa! Just shut up!_

I shivered when I felt big imaginary hands squeeze my head, trying to pop it...it was _excruciating_...I cried out in pain.

"Tell me girl!"

"H-he knows a little more about where the other secret scientists are." I whimpered...I couldn't _believe_ that I had just told Dr. Alanes that! Even if I couldn't help it! It's my _job_ to protect Zak!

Now Dr. Alanes could squeeze out where all the secret scientists are from Zak...and it was all my fault. Those words had come out so easily the second time-_how_ Marissa, how?**!**? How could you let yourself do this?**!**? Why did you let _pain_ over take you?

Dr. Alanes stood up, strolled over to me and freed my ankles. He was about to free my wrists as well, but stopped.

"I'm warning you girl, don't try anything funny. You know the consequences."

"I know."

He freed my wrists. I instinctively rubbed my sore wrists with my hands...my cold hands felt good against my burning wrists.

Dr. Alanes pulled out a long, thin chain attached to a pair of handcuffs and I frowned. He must have seen me, because he said;

"You could get lost in the building. I don't want to have to track you."

I let him shackle my hands in front of me. The chain attached to the handcuffs was about two feet long. Dr. Alanes tugged at it, forcing me to sit up.

_Some day I'm gonna kill this fucker._

I felt a little better with that thought as Dr. Alanes pulled me out of the room, even though I knew that it would never happen.

At least...that's what I hoped...


	8. Chapter 7

**(To those of you who are about to read this, feel free to do so, but this is an old story of mine. I am moving it from my original account to this new account, which is mainly for old stories that I do not wish to keep on my main account, which is named _Dylexa_. I won't have anything good up there for a while, sadly. I am working on it though!)**

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

**It's about time things become fortunate for me**

**(Dylexa: I'M BACK BABY! I HAVEN'T UPDATED ANYTHING IN ALMOST THREE MONTHS, BUT NOW I'M BACK! (=D **

**I thank all the people who reviewed for my story so far, and hope that you will continue to do so.**

Drew sighed solemnly;

It had been _weeks_ since she had seen her children, and the poor mother was horribly worried.

They hadn't found anything yet that could lead them to find Marissa and Zak. Doc, Doyle, and the rest of the secret scientists were starting to think that the worst had happened, and that Marissa and Zak had been killed. Even now the cryptid siblings were starting to think that Marissa and Zak were gone.

But Drew refused to believe that. She _wouldn't_!

She was going to get her children back.

Even if it was the last thing she did.

**...**

**(Marissa's POV)**

_Drip!_

_Drip!_

_Drip!_

The monotonous sounds of the dripping water were starting to bug me. I had been listening to this sound for weeks thanks to a leak in the pipes.

_Drip!_

_Drip!_

I shivered a little, hugging my knees to get warm...sadly, it was useless.

The day Dr. Alanes had managed to inject me with truth serum was also the day that Samir had been taken to another floor in the laboratory.

Apparently, while Dr. Alanes's cronies were getting me out of my cage, Samir had said something rather nasty to them, so they had decided to punish him.

I didn't know if that was really true or not, but I was pretty angry either way...so I had decided to start to use burn threats to scare Dr. Alanes...that was when I started taking the medication again.

I know, that was almost a _month_ ago...I should be used to this by now...at least that's what Dr. Alanes and everyone else says.

But the truth is that I'm not. I can never get used to the shivering, the desperate attempts to try to get warm, and the fact that I cannot use my fire, even if I didn't like to.

My fire was like a body part. Loosing that is like losing an arm, or a leg.

Almost like losing Zak.

I couldn't tell whether or not Zak was dead...nobody talked about him anymore...so I feared that he might be.

Although...a while ago...I had heard some rumors about Zak having wings.

_Wings. _Those bastards had experimented on him! They implanted _wings_ on his back!

Although...those were just rumors...just ambiguous rumors...so I had no proof of this being true.

But I hoped that more than anything that this was just some silly rumor created by some poor, bored guard or experiment.

_Drip!_

_Drip!_

I hoped my poor little brother was okay...and I hoped for Samir's safety as well...

"Did you hear?" I heard someone, a female around age nineteen whisper suddenly. "Dr. Alanes found experiment number thirteen!"

_Thirteen_. It couldn't be...Gratis? Here?...or was I just forgetting Gratis's experiment number?

I bit my lip...it couldn't be...

"Um, hello? I'm talking to you, bitch!" I blinked, wondering who she was talking to.

"Are...are you talking to _me_?" My voice came out scratchy. It had been a while since I had actually spoken.

"Is there another experiment fourteen in this room?"

"How do you kn-"

"I've been here for a long time kid. Don't you think I know what goes on here?"

"I-"

"-didn't know," she finished. "Bitch."

"Will you stop calling me that?"

I heard her chuckle. "Dumb ass."

_Oh, yeah, like that helps my self-esteem._

"Look, if the only reason you're talking to me is because you want to call me names, then just leave me alone." I figured that the whole experiment thirteen thing was just some cruel joke...maybe some employee got bored and decided to pretend that she's a victim and try to trick me...I mean, who else would know so much about Gratis and I?

"You're so melodramatic," her tone was frustrated. "Look, do you want to find out about your brother or not?"

I was silent...was she joking? Was she actually offering to help me?

"_Well_? Are you gonna answer me, or am I just wasting my breath?"

I leaned against my cage. "How do I know you're not just a guard messing with me? They've played some pretty sick jokes on me before."

And the sad thing is that this was true. When I was younger, they once tricked me into thinking that they were going to help me and Gratis escape, but in the end they told Dr. Alanes that I was trying to escape...my punishment was a whipping...thirty hits...they've done other stuff like this to me, but this one was the worst...they knew how gullible I was...I was not gonna let them trick me again.

The girl groaned. "You're ridiculous."

"Just leave me alone."

She sighed. "Fine. Why do I care? I was just about to tell you something you might find interesting, but if you're just going to be a bitch, then that's just fine...it's not like you were gonna help me escape anyway."

If this was a joke, then I was falling for it. "You're not kidding?"

She didn't answer. This went on for several minutes...I was starting to think that she wasn't going to talk to me, but then she finally said, "Do I _sound_ like I'm kidding? Sheesh honey, you're so stupid."

I was starting to get very pissed off with this chick. I mean, who does she think she is anyway, calling me all these names? I'm not just some retard!

But something inside me told me that if this was true, then the reason why she was acting like this was because she was just raised wrong. I mean, being around scientists who talk like a sailor twenty four-seven for a long time can lead you to talking just like them...and besides, I usually talk that way too. I didn't want to be a hypocrite.

"Do you know where he is?" I asked. "Specifically?"

"I heard that he's in the fifth floor of the laboratory."

"When did he arrive?"

"About a week ago."

I tried not to smile, but it found a way up my lips anyway.

I was going to find my brother...Gratis...he can get Zak and I out of here...I can have my big brother back...and my little one too...maybe we can even find Samir too.

"Um...so, now that I told you..."

"Yes?"

She hesitated for a minute, before she said, "Well...you owe me now. I know you're gonna come up with an escape plan sooner or later...and besides, experiment thirteen has escaped like three times now...this should be easy for him...so..."

She didn't need to finish. I knew exactly what she wanted.

I bit my lip again...our team was gonna be pretty big...I just didn't know how we were all gonna escape.

"If you don't let me be a part of the plan, then I'm telling Dr. Alanes that you were making escape plans."

I winced. I didn't want to get a beating...I knew Dr. Alanes would whip me...or maybe...he might hurt Zak...I just couldn't take that risk.

"Fine..." I figured that she was in the cage next to me, so I held out my hand as far as it could go...it barley reached the inside of the cage. "M'name's Marissa...what's yours?"

I felt a bony, scarred hand shake my own. "They call me Bo."

**...**

_With the Saturdays..._

"Drew...we've checked here already," Dr. Beeman sighed. "I don't think their here."

"We've checked _everywhere _Arthur! Where else could they be?_!_?"

"Drew's right Arthur," Doc defended his wife. "We've gotta keep trying."

Dr. Cheechoo frowned. "Doc, we've been trying for_ months_...I know, we shouldn't just quit...but...don't you guys think you should just start to move on? Because...chances are...we may never find them..."

Drew and Doc ignored him.

They were all so wrapped up in searching for a clue to find the kids that they didn't even notice Fiskerton slip away from the group.

The poor gorilla-cat missed his two human siblings so much that it hurt. They had been through so much together...so many missions, so many adventures…and now Marissa and Zak were gone.

Maybe gone forever.

"It's hard seeing Doc and Drew like this, isn't it?"

Fiskerton didn't bother to look as his human uncle walked up next to him. The cryptid crossed his arms and sighed for reply.

_It's all my fault…I should have watched them, _Fiskerton scolded himself. _I'm a horrible brother._

"I know we'll find them," Doyle announces, seeming to have read Fiskerton's mind.

"/How do you know? Marissa once told me that it was nearly impossible for anyone to escape, and that she was just lucky!/"

Doyle looked at Fiskerton and Fiskerton looked back. The gorilla cat saw the mercenary's blue eyes shine in the light.

"Because I promised Doc and Drew that I would make sure that you guys would be okay…and I don't break promises." Doyle smirked. "Don't worry Fuzz-ball. We'll find them."

Fiskerton wasn't so sure about that.

**...**

_**A couple of days later…**_

**(Marissa's POV)**

"Hey, bitch, wake up!"

I felt a pair of hands shake me. These hands felt familiar and bony…

"B-Bo?" I opened my eyes to see a shadow hovering above me.

"Who else calls you bitch?"

I rolled my eyes. Yup, this was Bo.

I suddenly realized that she was in my cage.

"Bo, how did you get in here?"

"Oh my god," she sighed. "How do you think I got in here? Those science dorks forgot to lock my cage!"

I frowned. This seemed too easy…the scientists here _never_ forget to lock our cages. It's something they remember so well that they can even do it without thinking about it!

I was thinking about that for a minute when I realized something.

There were cameras all around the room.

Cameras that saw everything that Bo was doing.

My eyes widened in horror at that thought. "Bo, how long ago did you get out of your cage?"

I saw her frail shoulders shrug in the dark. "I dunno, a couple of minutes ago?"

Suddenly, I heard footsteps. The footsteps sounded loud, so I knew that there was more than one person coming.

That meant that this was serious. They were going to punish Bo…I knew that even one beating would probably kill her…even in the dark, it was obvious that Bo was severely underweight, and that she would run out of blood before the tenth strike.

I knew that I would last much longer with a beating, despite how little I had eaten during my time here.

It was much too obvious, even to Bo that I weighed more than her, so at least I'd have a chance of survival.

There was only one thing to do.

Without thinking, I pushed Bo aside, and crawled out my cage. Before Bo could react, I closed the door. Even though I couldn't see her, I was able to imagine the pure hatred that had spread across her face.

"What are you-"

"I-I'm sorry Bo, but this is for your own good," I squeaked. I felt tears of horror and despair trickle down my face. "I'll make sure that if I survive I'll come back for you."

I tried to run back to Bo's cage, so at least I might have a chance, since it was so dark in the room, but it was too late.

Light poured into the room like lemonade in an empty glass cup and before I could blink, two muscular scientists were upon me.

"There's our little run away! Get her!"

One grabbed me effortlessly, letting me squirm around uselessly in his arms.

"LET ME GO!" I cried, my voice sounding almost as if I were begging.

My captor dropped me on the ground, and I landed with a _thud_ on my butt. I gritted my teeth to keep a scream from escaping my lips as pain exploded through my butt and back.

When the man who had picked me up looked me in the eyes, he smirked.

"I should have guessed that experiment number fourteen would have tried to escape," the man said tauntingly. "Like brother like sister." He tried to pick me up, but I kicked him. I glared angrily, letting him know that I wasn't going to go down so easily.

"Just sedate her," the other man instructs. "I'm sure some sleep will rid her bad mood."

I looked in the direction of my old cage. The girl who I guessed to be Bo was looking back at me, her jade green eyes shining with a mix of anger and respect.

I saw that Bo's jet black hair was long and tangled, framing a very pale face. It was much obvious, despite her weight that she was at least nineteen years old. Her face gave it all away…so mature…her expression was solemn. Her bottom lip looked to have a cut at the center, and she had a couple more cuts on her face and body.

She was very frail, and her bones were clearly visible through her skin and frayed clothing. Her knobby knees were both skinned, and her elbows seemed to have some scrapes as well.

But what I really noticed what was on her head, showing what Dr. Alanes had done to her;

A pair of feline ears, about five inches long each. They were black, like her hair, and they were pointed as well, just like any feline ears. I saw that she had a tag stuck to her right ear, looking much like one of those tags farmers use for cows to show that they belonged to someone.

I winced when I felt the needle stick into my arm, and almost immediately, I started to feel tired.

"Bring her to the second floor. I think she just wants more attention…maybe a week in there will show her not to misbehave."

I felt imaginary hands pull my eye lids down and I flickered out like a candle.

**...**

"She looks so pale…are you sure this is her?"

"I've watched her grow up. I know it's her."

Both of the voices were male. The first one sounded just vaguely familiar…I guessed the voice belonged to a boy at about age eleven or twelve...Samir…

The other, I knew this voice too well to even think. It sounded a bit deeper, but I knew that it was the same person.

The same boy that I had met eight years ago…the same boy that I had always looked after, watched grow up from a small, naïve child, to a teenager. The same boy that was like a brother to me…the same boy that had always been so brave…yet so small…so innocent, despite all that he had been through…

I prayed it to be true before I opened my eyes…


End file.
